The Second Change
by Tsiriu
Summary: Almost twenty years after the first Change, the Overlords are back, and with a new battle plan. The old characters are gone seeing they are a bit too old to survive the Change. ratings inside. Third genre: romance.


Disclaimer: I own only Kerian, Naoko, Meiko, Serian, and Taka for characters. As far as creatures go, I'll tell you later so I don't ruin anything.

Author's Note: This fanfiction may take a while so bear with me. I've got problems, both with family, and with my friends. Not to mention the horrible, time-consuming school I go to every day.

"Hey guys, where are all the teachers? They just seem to have, disappeared." Kerian said, looking around.

"I dunno. I was talking to my English teacher, then she just, poofed. What the Hell's goin on?" Naoko said strongly.

"I feel really weird guys!" Taka shouted, grabbing at her sides.

"Taka! Lay down, you'll be alright. Come on, let's get her to the nurse!" Serian said loudly.

"Uh, Serian, I don't think we're gonna be able to do that. Look at the door to the Field House." Meiko said slowly. I really think we should get outta here."

"Oh shit! Pick up Taka, we've really gotta get outta here! I'll explain later, but right now we need to get into a car on the road, preferably one that can go off road. We need to get to that martial arts store near Dandelion's so we can get some weapons that actually work against these things1 I'll explain when we've got a ride!" Kerian yelled, remembering a biography he'd read not too long ago for English. Short excerpts of text flashed through his mind, what little guns did to these creatures, what they did, what the Change was, and the existence of Change powers. "Take her to the road, come back here and pick me up once you've got a ride. I'm gonna see what I can do about these things!"

He looked back to see that the others left as soon as he finished talking. Looking back towards the Field House, his fears were confirmed as a maniple of Myrmidons came out of the door. He could hear a strange noise coming from the clock tower, and he could feel a strange power within his heart. It was like the darkness within him wanted release, and was granting him use over the shadow and darkness both around, and within, him. "So, my Change Talent is control over Darkness. How interesting. Well now, let's see what I can do." He thought aloud as he closed his eyes, concentrating, focusing all his anger, all his hatred, all his sorrow, all into his hand, forming a knife within half a second. More were conjured, but they laid on the ground, pitch black against gray granite.

Myrmidon Battlespeach boomed towards him, letting him know that they saw him. They seemed to be much more aggressive this time around. He threw the knife at the closest Myrmidon, his eyes widening as it plunged deep into the thing's face. Smiling slightly, he threw another knife, imbedding it in another creature's heart. His aim had improved greatly. He took the Darkness from each knife, combining it and molding it into a bow. He took Shadow from around him, forming arrows of black death. He was a deadly bowman before the Change had affected his accuracy. Now, he laughed as he nocked three arrows. Two Myrmidons had fallen, and they were not even to the hill. Laying the bow horizontally, he released the arrows, nocking more almost before they had even left the bowstring.

"Kerian, what the Hell are you doing?" Naoko yelled as she pulled up beside him. She knew, along with the others, that Kerian was a horribly close-range fighter, but now, their jaws dropped in awe as three arrows were shot simultaneously, and three bodies hit the ground.

"Saving our asses! Thanks to the Change, I can move and mold Shadow and Darkness! Again, we don't have time for an explanation right now!" Kerian yelled as he shot another three arrows. _Eight down, now let's see if I still can't fight!_ He thought, molding the bow into a slender sword.

"WHOA! How did you do that?" Taka yelled.

"He just told us! Granted I don't really know what the hell he's talking about." Naoko said, watching with great interest. Kerian ran towards the muscled monstrosity, his sword singing as it flew through the air. The Myrmidon blocked it with his axe, but just barely. Kerian was using the strength he had in his legs to propel his sword, and to keep himself one step ahead of his opponent. Sliding between the Myrmidon's thick legs, the sword of Darkness slid through the creature's body, impaling it through the back.

"GO GO GO! We need to get to that store!" Kerian yelled as he swung into the truck. "Awesome, you were able to find a Jimmy! I know how to work the FWD in these. Now, let's get going. I will explain what's going on during the drive. Speaking of which, I might want to seeing I'm the only one who won't faint because of the news, if you guys do believe me." He added.

"After what I just saw, I could believe almost anything. First off, what's this Change you were talking about?" Meiko said, giving up his seat behind the wheel.

"This is the second Change. The first one was created when a group of being we called Overlords activated a thing called a Grand Projector. It wiped everyone older then, I believe it was fourteen right off the face of the earth. The just disappeared, no sound, no flash of light, just, poof. The Overlords came and set up two distinct buildings, what was called the Dorms, and the Meat Factory. The Dorms was were they kept, and breeded, kids that they captured. They raised them there until they were fourteen, then, on the child's fourteenth birthday, they took the child to the Meat Factory, to be cut up and turned into something horrid. Some of the stronger kids went to the Training Grounds when they are much younger. They would do weight training and were injected with almost lethal amounts of steroids, strengthening the muscles incredibly much. They used the teenage body parts and machinery of their own creation to make their creatures, which they used to capture more kids, and to wage war in small competitions, all for a damned trophy. They used us like pieces in a damn Chess game. We were as disposable as pawns. Each year, a few kids would escape the Dorms or the Training Grounds, and some would join a group called Shade's Children. My parents were two of them. They had survived the destruction of the Grand Projector, and they knew that the Overlords had left. The two that destroyed the GP were killed in the effort, subjected to humongous amounts of Change radiation. Everyone says it was a painless death, which is the way that they deserved to go if they had to.

'The Overlords seem to be back now, but they've set their sights towards the older kids for some reason. All people above the age of seventeen are now gone. The only people who know what's going on are the kids whose parents were part of Shade's Children. We might be able to get with Shade again, he was a product of the Change. He was alive, once. He, when he runned Shade's Children, a holographic representation of himself. He was stored in a computer's memory, and he might have become operational again due to the recurrence of the Change.

"The creatures I killed were called Myrmidons. They are the ones that were made using parts from kids from the Training Grounds. They normally carry axes and net-guns. They always travel in, I believe it was maniples of nine. The only exceptions are Myrmidon Masters, whose armor makes them easily recognizable from the standard Myrmidon. There were other creatures, Trackers, with their amazing sense of smell, Wingers, who could fly, Screamers, who could shriek so loudly it would kill you, not just deafen you. Ferrets would suck the blood out of you until you had just enough left to live, then they'd bring you to the Meat Factory. There were also Drones, but they were only workers found in the Meat Factory, and maybe the Training Grounds to make the steroids. Come on, we're at the store now. Make sure you get good swords, don't bother with knives or staves. Get only bladed weapons." Kerian explained as he drove.

"So, all we need to do is break the Grand Projector again? This should be easy." Taka said simply.

"The hell it will be Taka. The Overlords live at the Grand Projector now." Meiko said. "I can see them if I envision them. My uncle was one of the people who were in Shade's Children. He would tell me stories about what the Overlords looked like. I only recognize one though, Black Banner. The others are totally new." Meiko said, revealing his Change Talent.

"So, you've found your Change Talent huh? Good. Each of us will now have a strange talent called a Change Talent. Once the Change is gone, we won't have them anymore. The last one took fifteen years to get rid of, but we have the knowledge and tactics from the previous Change. We will take much less time. Our first objective is to find Shade. He's the one who has all the information on the Overlords stored in his memory banks." Kerian said, picking up a large spear with a golden-etched blade. He put it back, grabbing two swords to put on his hips, two shorter ones for on his back, and a large halberd. "Don't worry about stealing, we're gonna save the world with this stuff. Plus, it's not like the person cares anymore." He finished, walking over to the door.

"We also need food and water, as well as supplies for camping. And gas too. I'm gonna make a list." Naoko said, using her talent to move a small notebook and pencil to her.

"So, your Change Talent is Telekenesis. One of the two people who destroyed the Grand Projector had that same Talent." Kerian said as he started the truck up. Soon after, everyone was in the truck.

"Let's sleep before we go on tomorrow. Each one of us will take turns with watch. I'll go first, then Kerian, then Taka, then Meiko, and Serian last. Each watch will last two hours. I'll get us to a place where we can sleep without worry." Naoko said, grabbing the wheel as Kerian put his stuff in the back.

"Sounds good to me."


End file.
